Review of the methods used for isolating pharmaceutical lead compounds from traditional medicinal plants

The possibility of finding new medicines from natural sources is one of the more commonly cited reasons for preserving biodiversity, and employing indigenous knowledge of traditional healing remedies greatly increases the likelihood of discovering these hidden medicinal compounds. The main difficulties in using natural products as a source for pharmaceutical lead compounds involve separating the plethora of compounds from the original extract, as well as the gamble of time and money invested in an activity that may not yield a novel compound. However, while these difficulties exist, the potential of natural products still far outweighs the limitations of the simple structures and known modes of action of synthetic lead compounds. As such, the production of novel medicines, particularly for cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatments as well as the inhibition of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, now requires the utilization of natural products. This paper provides a review of the current methods used in elucidating pharmaceutical lead compounds from natural sources, focusing on plant samples in particular.     

Chromium Removal from Soil by Phytoremediation with Weed Plant Species in Thailand

The possibility of using phytoremediation with weed plant species in Thailand to remove chromium (Cr) from soil was investigated. Six plant species, Cynodon dactylon, Pluchea indica, Phyllanthus reticulatus, Echinochloa colonum, Vetiveria nemoralis, and Amaranthus viridis, were chosen for their abilities to accumulate total chromium (TCr) at tanning industry sites. These plant species were studied in pots at a nursery. Cynodon dactylon and Pluchea indica provided highest TCr accumulation capacities of 152.1 and 151.8 mg/kg of plant on a dry weight basis, respectively, at a pulse hexavalent Cr [Cr(VI)] input of 100 mg Cr(VI)/kg soil. Most of the Cr uptake occurred within 30 days after the input. The TCr accumulation by Pluchea indica was observed in roots, stems, and leaves at 27%, 38%, and 35% of the TCr mass uptake, respectively, whereas 51%, 49% and 0% of the TCr mass uptake accumulated in roots, stems, and leaves of Cynodon dactylon, respectively. The results on Cr accumulation and translocation in plant tissues suggest that Cr was removed mainly via phytoaccumulation and Pluchea indica is more suitable than Cynodon dactylon for the phytoremediation of Cr contaminated soil.     

安徽省蓼族植物资源的开发利用

安徽省有蓼族植物43种6变种，分布广、用途多、蕴藏量大，其中42种可供药用，29种可作观赏植物，10种可在农业生产上作农药，具有良好的开发利用前景。     

重庆獐牙菜属药用植物资源及其开发利用

经调查鉴定，重庆獐牙菜属药用植物有9种，其中西南獐牙菜、北方獐牙菜为重庆分布新记录。重点介绍了它们的医疗用途、地理分布、资源现状及其开发前景，为正确鉴别使用，编制了其分种检索表。     

重庆市基于排放绩效的火电行业二氧化硫总量控制研究

本文介绍了排放绩效及排放绩效方法在火电行业二氧化硫总量控制方面的应用，并对重庆市火电机组及其二氧化硫排放状况进行了全面调查，根据重庆市二氧化硫污染防治的需要制定了各时段机组“十一五”期间的排放绩效控制标准，利用排放绩效方法测算了重庆市火电行业二氧化硫总量控制目标，提出了总量配额分配方法。     

Ecophysiological Responses of Larix sibiricaLedeb. and Pinus sibiricaDu Tour Undergrowth to Climate Change

The effects of probable climate change—an increase in atmospheric CO₂(by two times), air temperature, precipitation—on CO₂exchange and temperature dependence of net photosynthesis in the larch and Siberian stone pine undergrowth formed in the light larch forests of West Siberia were studied in chambers with an artificial climate. The change of the aforementioned ecological factors caused an increase in the temperature optima of photosynthesis and the range of optimum temperatures (in the case of Siberian stone pine, to a slightly greater degree). Therefore, the ranges of both species may broaden, and the Siberian stone pine can expand to the north, displacing larch tree stands.     

一种水培植物过滤法的除藻性能

运用隔离生态水区(mesocosm)的手法模拟再现小型封闭水体环境,对水培植物过滤法(HBFM)去除藻类的特性进行了研究.结果表明,藻类去除率平均可达61.1%,对有毒藻类Microcystis sp.的去除效果尤其明显.通过建立生态数学模型并进行计算机模拟,得出在循环比(日处理水量/封闭水体容量)为 0.2 的条件下,应用 HBFM 在 45d 内就可以使封闭水体的 Chl.a 浓度从 100μg/L 降低到 10μg/L .     

Antimony uptake by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Zea mays</Emphasis> (L.) and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Helianthus annuus</Emphasis> (L.) from nutrient solution

We investigated the extent of Sb uptake by maize (Zea mays) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus) from nutrient solutions containing concentrations from 3 to 24 mg/L of potassium antimonate, with the aim of determining the potential of Sb to enter the food chain. The maximum shoot Sb concentrations in Z. mays and H. annuus were 41 mg/kg and 77 mg/kg dry weight, respectively. There was no significant difference in Sb uptake between species. The average bioaccumulation coefficients (the plant/solution concentration quotients) were 1.02 and 1.93 for Z. mays and H. annuus, respectively. Phosphate addition did not affect plant growth or Sb uptake. Antimony uptake by both Z. mays and H. annuus is unlikely to pose a health risk to animals and humans.     

Effectiveness of amphibians as biodiversity surrogates in pond conservation

Amphibian decline has led to worldwide conservation efforts, including the identification and designation of sites for their protection. These sites could also play an important role in the conservation of other freshwater taxa. In 89 ponds in Switzerland, we assessed the effectiveness of amphibians as a surrogate for 4 taxonomic groups that occur in the same freshwater ecosystems as amphibians: dragonflies, aquatic beetles, aquatic gastropods, and aquatic plants. The ponds were all of high value for amphibian conservation. Cross‐taxon correlations were tested for species richness and conservation value, and Mantel tests were used to investigate community congruence. Species richness, conservation value, and community composition of amphibians were weakly congruent with these measures for the other taxonomic groups. Paired comparisons for the 5 groups considered showed that for each metric, amphibians had the lowest degree of congruence. Our results imply that site designation for amphibian conservation will not necessarily provide protection for freshwater biodiversity as a whole. To provide adequate protection for freshwater species, we recommend other taxonomic groups be considered in addition to amphibians in the prioritization and site designation process.     

The impact of job security,satisfaction and stress on performance assessment and optimization of generation companies

In this study, performances of Iranian thermal power plants have been assessed with respect to human factors such as job stress, satisfaction and security through data envelopment analysis (DEA). In the first step performance of power plants (DMUs) have been evaluated considering traditional production factors including installed capacity, internal consumption and fuel consumption as inputs and gross production as output (model 1). In the next step, model 1 is expanded to include three above mentioned human factors (model 2). Power plants have been ranked based on their relative efficiency scores in both models. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients between relative efficiency scores and rankings of power plants in two models have been calculated. The results show that efficiency scores and rankings of power plants in two models are quite different indicating that mentioned human factors have direct impact on overall performance of generation companies and that if we were to use just traditional factors it would not reflect the optimum efficiency of the DMUs. Finally, job security has been found as the most effective human factor in Iranian power plants. This is the first study that presents an integrated approach for assessment of electric power plants considering job stress, security and satisfaction. And it is shown that these human factors play important role in overall performance of generation companies.